LIR Energy, a funding arm of the Brazilian utility Light Servicos de Eletricidade (Light), has signed a $300 million global MTN programme. The programme arranger and sole dealer is Santander Investment. The unrated programme marks the first Brazilian issuer to enter the market since November 1999. A $150 million debut public deal has already been launched. The bookrunners off the note were ABN Amro and Santander Investment. The launch of the deal, marketed at the end of May, was abandoned due to a lack of investor demand. The note was not promoted again for the rescheduled September launch. Paulo Renato Marques, investor relations head at Light, says: "We already had overdemand for the paper and so did not need to go on a roadshow." The programme is the 15th South American utility to join the market since Financiera Energetica Nacional in 1993 and is the seventh utility to join the Euro-MTN market this year. Light, an electricity generation and distribution company supplies 80% of the energy needed by the state of Rio de Janeiro. It supplies approximately eight per cent of Brazil's electricity.
September 29, 2000
